New prototype software has been introduced at the recent Cebit electronics fair in Germany, which enables people to have a silent phone conversation. The researchers have developed a scientific and innovative technique called Electromyography, which can measure the tiny electrical pulses of people’s muscles whilst chatting with other people.

The prototype device uses this technique to record user’s pulses and then transform those pulses into electrical signals through an amplifier. The signals are then sent to a laptop using Bluetooth connectivity and converted into text creating a synthesised vocal conversation.

Speaking to BBC News, Professor Tanja Shultz of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the person behind this new invention, said, “I was taking the train and the person sitting next to me was constantly chatting and I thought ‘I need to change this’. We call it silent communication.”

She was unsure whether the new technique would be popular on mobile phones but expressed hope that the technology would facilitate several other uses such as helping people communicate in different languages. It first translates the language and then helps people to speak in the other language using the synthesised voice.